Howie Kendrick Hits It Big

By the time Kendrick debuted in the majors, on April 26, 2006, Woods was stricken by lung cancer, the result of a lifetime of smoking. She watched that first game at home, telling everyone who called, "That's my boy on TV playing baseball!" and afterward he sent her the game jersey. Later that year she died. "When people are hard on me now, when things aren't where they need to be, I can just remember her and where I came from," says Kendrick. "She's the reason I'm in baseball and the reason I'm so successful. She taught me you have to work hard in life and be respectful."

That attitude is evident in his approach to the game today. Though reserved and polite, more likely to work a crossword than joke around in the clubhouse, Kendrick is fanatical about practice. A minor league teammate says he never heard Kendrick have a conversation not about baseball, and Scioscia says Kendrick "practices as hard as any player we've had." As for Kendrick's hitting, Matthews says, "You watch his BP, and he takes it with a purpose."

That is evident on a recent spring morning at the Angels' facility in Tempe, Ariz. At 5'10", Kendrick's strike zone is small and he rarely reaches outside of it. He begins by cracking line drives to right field, then to center, then a few to left. Out of 21 swings, he hit 16 liners, and on most he is squared up. Not once does he swing for the fences, nor does he send any balls near them. "Every time he hits a home run, it looks like an accident," says Willits, who played alongside Kendrick at three of his four stops in the Angels' minor league system. "When he does, he's trying to stay on a ball and hit it the other way, or smoke a line drive and he backspins it good and it carries out of the ballpark."

Though Kendrick doesn't need to provide power in a solid Angels' lineup—he hit only five homers in 338 at bats last year—or in spacious Angel Stadium, which caters more to doubles hitters, he is expected to increase his home run totals as time goes by. "Right now he's more of a 10 or 15 guy," says one AL scout, comparing him with Texas shortstop Michael Young. "But I can see him getting up to 25 while still hitting .320."

Kendrick could also stand to improve his plate discipline. For such a good hitter, he draws remarkably few walks—only nine last year, to go with 61 strikeouts. Scioscia claims not to be bothered by that, citing Kendrick's ability to get into hitting counts. (Last season he hit .418 when ahead in the count yet still hit .268 when behind.) Another weak spot is breaking balls. One AL scout says his team's righthanders felt they could get Kendrick out with a slider last season, and Kendrick agrees. "I'd be too aggressive and chase those pitches last year," he says. "Just from then to now, I've made a huge jump in seeing the breaking ball and knowing when it's a mistake pitch."

He's also visibly proud of the improvements he has made in the field, having gone from abysmal to competent. At one point he tells a reporter, "Maybe in a couple of years you'll be writing about my defense."

While this is a nice sentiment, it's unlikely, no matter how proficient he may become. After all, no one ever wrote about Reggie Miller's ability to box out. Kendrick is a pure hitter, always has been, a kid who idolizes Aaron because of his "great bat path," who still relishes hitting off a tee so he can practice backspinning the ball, and who talks about hitting the way some men talk about wine. "I've never seen him uncomfortable with a bat in his hands," says his sister Michelle. "It always just seemed like that was where he was supposed to be."

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